LOS ANGELES – Shaquille O'Neal's stepfather — the man who raised him, disciplined him, taught him how to play basketball — cried when he heard the news.

According to O'Neal, Sgt. Phillip Harrison was moved to tears when he learned his oversized son, perhaps the most dominant center to play in the NBA, was going to have his No. 34 jersey retired by the Lakers.

It wasn't exactly father-like-son as his jersey was unveiled Tuesday. O'Neal managed to keep it together as he stood at center court and accepted gratitude from Phil Jackson, Jeanie Buss and the 18,000-plus fans, many of whom were wearing No. 34, for his contributions to the Lakers.

O'Neal was recognized for his accomplishments and had his jersey retired in a halftime ceremony. He helped the Lakers win three NBA championships and make another Finals appearance.

After a video tribute and taped message from Kobe Bryant, Jackson started the ceremony by asking the crowd: "Fun, fun, fun. Did we have fun?" during O'Neal's eight seasons in a Lakers uniform. The fans wildly cheered for the Hall of Fame coach.

Buss, executive vice president in charge of business operations, said she asked fans to send her one word descriptions about O'Neal. Her favorite, she said, were "Champion" and "Laker," then begged the crowd to help unveil O'Neal's jersey hanging next to Magic Johnson's in the Staples Center rafters.

"Can you dig it? Can you dig it?" O'Neal said, his booming voice echoing in the arena he helped build.

"I want to dedicate tonight to the great Dr. Jerry Buss," O'Neal said, adding the late Lakers owner moved up his jersey retirement ceremony. "If I had a wish, it would be that he could be here with us."

While O'Neal's father couldn't make the ceremony, his mother, Lucille, and six children joined O'Neal on the court. Also in attendance were former teammate Rick Fox, and Lakers greats Elgin Baylor and James Worthy.

Before the game, O'Neal recalled the often-told story of how West, then the Lakers' general manager, took him to the Forum and told him look up in the rafters.

"Jerry was telling me all the things that he expected from me," O'Neal said. "He told me to look up and said, 'See all those names? Either you are going to be up there, or with all the stuff you got going on (movies, songs, etc.) you're going to be a bust. So good luck.'"

It was the same words his stepfather had told him when he was a youngster learning how to play.

"He always mentioned the names Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul Jabbar and he told me when I was a young juvenile delinquent that if you do things right, son, maybe one day you could be as great as those guys," O'Neal said.

O'Neal isn't criticizing Dwight Howard when he talks about how the current Lakers center needs to be more dominant. Those aren't insults when O'Neal says Howard needs to practice more, work harder and make his free throws.

O'Neal reiterated he hopes to motivate Howard by his comments, especially if the Lakers hope to go deep in the playoffs.

"(Howard) needs to step into his own. I've said it many times on TV that I would like to see him average 28 (points), 10 (rebounds)," O'Neal said. "That's the numbers that were thrown in my face — 28/10. So that's the number I'm always going to throw in his face.

"I'm just doing what others did to me. Kareem once said about me, 'He's an OK player, but he doesn't have any championships.' It wasn't really a dis, but Kareem just telling me, issuing me a challenge, to step it up a little."

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